Method for making artificial coniferous tree branch



18, 1969 w. R. GOODRIDGE 3,478,652

METHOD FOR MAKING ARTIFICIAL CONIFEROUS TREE BRANCH Filed Dec. 22, 1965 INVENTOR Walter Good ridge WALTER R, GOODRIDGE BY K/YEL a). Hod/f5 ATTORNEY United States Patent York Filed Dec. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 515,534

Int. Cl. A41g N02 US. Cl. 93-15 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An artificial coniferous tree limb is provided having an increased number of needles extending from the limb, thereby giving the artificial limb a more natural appearance. The increased number of needles is provided by simultaneously passing a pair of wires and a plastic film through the nip of cutting rollers, such rollers having grooves to receive the wires, and by moving the plastic film at a rate of speed at least about one and one-half times the rate of speed of the wires so that the needles cut from the plastic film bunch up between the wires and give the increased density of needles.

The present invention relates to an artificial coniferous tree and the method for making same and, more particularly, to a method for making Christmas tree branches from artificial materials, which resultant article looks highly natural.

Until the present time, in the manufacture of artificial coniferous tree limbs including artificial Christmas trees, garlands, wreaths, sprigs and bushes out of thin sheets or ribbons of metal foil, paper, plastic and the like, the resultant articles have not had a natural look. Primarily, the artificial needles have generally extended from the limb at an angle greater than 45 and these needles have not been sufficiently closely spaced to give a natural appearance. In addition, the production of such artificial coniferous limbs has not been as fast as is desirable.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the defects of the prior art, such as indicated above.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of making an artificial tree branch having dense and closely spaced artificial needles.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial coniferous tree limb which may be quickly and inexpensively produced and yet which has a highly natural appearance.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method for forming artificial coniferous tree limbs of highly natural appearance.

These and other objects and the nature and advantages of the instant invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic front elevation, partly in section, of an apparatus in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic end elevation, partly in section, of the device of FIG. 1.

To form an artificial coniferous tree limb in accordance with the present invention, one or more plys of plastic film are drawn forward and cut into needles by two rotating cylindrical rollers. These rollers, one smooth and the other having generally axially extending teeth, are urged together by suitable spring pressure. A lateral groove at the center of each roller allows two steel wires to pass through the rollers on either side of the plastic film. The wires and a narrow strip of the 3,478,652 Patented Nov. 18, 1969 plastic film are not cut by the roller teeth. The two wires with the shredded film (i.e. the needles) therebetween are drawn away from the rollers at a rate of speed which is less than the rate of speed at which the plastic film is fed to the rollers. As the two wires with the film therebetween are drawn away, they are simultaneously twisted by a rotating head which travels away from the rollers on a track. The increased speed of the film travel relative to the speed of wire travel forces the film between the wires as they are twisted which results in a greater density of plastic needles per linear unit of twisted wire and an acute angle of inclination of the needles to the artificial limb which is less than 45.

An artificial limb forming apparatus 10, shown generally in FIG. 1, comprises a pair of mating circumferential grooved rollers 12 and 1-4. The circumferential grooves, best seen in FIG. 2, are preferably spaced midway along the axial length of the rollers and lie in a plane passing radially through the rollers. At least one of the rollers, here shown as roller 12, has on its surface a plurality of cutting elements 16 which are shown extending at an axial direction between the grooves and the end of the roller. Such grooves 16 need not, however, lie precisely in an axial direction but they may be inclined if desired to provide a different angle of inclination of the resultant needles in the final product. While the spacing between adjacent cutter elements 16 is not critical, it has been found that the most desirable product results when the cutters are relatively closely spaced, i.e. between and ,5 of an inch apart.

The rollers 12 and 14 are supported in a suitable framework 18. This framework may take the form of a pair of vertical posts 20 and 22 which are each provided with a bearing 24 for rotatably supporting the axle 26 of the roller 14. The posts 20 and 22 also carry the bearings 28 for rotatably supporting the axle 30 of the roller 12. Suitable spring means 32 are provided to act on the bearings 28 and thereby urge the rollers into mating position. The spring pressure may be controlled through a pair of set screws 34 in a well-known manner.

Suitable means 36 are provided to rotate the roller at a first predetermined rate of speed. The means 36 include a variable speed motor 38 which drives the rollers 12 and 14 through a suitable linkage. The linkage may include a gear 40 directly driven by the motor 38 through an axle 42, a pinion 44 supported by the posts 20 and 22 through an axle 46 and driven by the gear 40, and a pair of gears 48 and 50 rigidly attached to the axles 26 and 30, respectively, and driven through the pinion 44.

Suitable means which may include a plurality of guide pins 54 and an idler roll 56, are provided to continuously pass a film material 52 to the nip between the rollers 12 and 14. Additional means are also provided to continuously pass a continuous wire 58 to the groove of the roller 12 and to pass another continuous wire 60 to the groove of the roller 14. Such means includes the guiding rollers 62 and 64. At the nip between the rollers 12 and 14 the wire 58 will lie within the groove of the roller 12 and in facing relationship with the upper surface of the film material 52 while the wire 60* will lie in the groove of roller 14 in facing relationship with the bottom of the film material 52.

Downstream from the rollers 12 and 14 is provided a suitable wire drawing means 66, including a wire gripping device 67. At the start of each operation, the ends of the wires 58 and 60 are anchored in the gripping device 66. The gripping device 67 is provided at the end of a rotatable shaft 68 which is supported in a bearing 70. The shaft 68 is rotated through suitable driving means, such as the belt drive 72, by a variable speed motor 74. The motor 74 with the gripping device 67 and the interconnected driving structure, as part of the Wire drawing means 66, provides a suitable means to twist the wires and thereby trap therebetween the film material, after it has been cut by the cutting elements 16. The entire means to twist the wires 58 and 60 is mounted to travel in a linear direction away from the rollers 14 and 16.

Thus, the wire drawing means 66 are provided to pull the wires 58 and 60 through the grooves in the rollers 14 and 16 at a predetermined rate of speed less than the rate of rotation of the rollers to effect sliding between the grooves and the wires 58 and 60. The wire drawing means includes, besides the gripper 66 and the bearing 70, a support element 76 for the bearing 70. The support element 76 is provided with a sliding element 78 which moves on. a track 80. The support element 76 is driven by a chain 82 which is supported on a sprocket 84 which in turn is driven by the motor 38 through the shaft 42.

In operation, the web of film material is continuously passed through the rollers 12 and 14 which operate at a first predetermined rate of speed. As the film passes between the rolls it is cut by the cutter 16. In the meantime the wires 58 and 60 are passed through the grooves on the rollers and are pulled through the gripper 66 at a second and lower predetermined rate of speed.

As indicated above, the second predetermined rate of speed is less than the first rate of speed and this has a plurality of effects. Thus, as the rollers 12 and 14 rotate faster than the wires are being pulled, the wires slide in the grooves in the rollers. It is therefore necessary for the wires 58 and 60 to be of a smaller size than the grooves on the rollers. Also, the film material 52 is pushed through the rollers at a faster rate than the rate of travel, than the wires 58 and 60, and this causes a greater linear amount of film material 52 to be present in the final product than the linear amount of wire 58 and 60 which, in turn, causes a greater density of needles 90 than is usual per unit length of limb 92. It has been found most useful to provide a first rate of speed of from 1%. to 2% times the second rate of speed, and the preferred rate is about 2 times that of the second rate. These rates of speed can be varied in a number of ways such as by changing the relative size of sprocket 84 and gear 40.

Rotating the rollers 12 and 14 at a greater speed than the pulling rate of the wires 58 and 60 not only increases the density of the needles 90, but also increases the angularity or the inclination of the needles 90 with respect to the limb 92. This angularity can be further increased by increasing the rate of twisting of the wires by increasing the speed of motor 74. Increasing the twisting rate will also have the effect of increasing the second predetermined rate of speed and thus the ratio of the speeds can also be controlled through the motor 74.

The film material 52 may be formed of any suitable material such as aluminum foil, paper, or plastic. However, it has been found most desirable to utilize a plastic material such as polyethylene, polypropylene, variourl vinyl polymers and copolymers, vinylidene polymers and copolymers, polyesters and polyamides. The preferred material is, however, an unplasticized vinyl resin of a pale green color. The wires 58 and 60 may be of any suitable material although steel wires are preferable.

The resultant artificial limb 92 preferably has plastic needles inclined at an angle of less than 30 with each needle having a width of about & to of an inch. Preferably, the plastic film material trapped between the wires has a true length of between 1% and 2%. times the length of the wires 58 and 60.

What is claimed is: 1. A method of forming artificial coniferous tree limbs comprising:

rotating a pair of mating circumferentially grooved rollers at a first predetermined rate of speed, one of said rollers being provided on its surface with generally axially extending cutter elements;

continuously passing a web of film material between said pair of circumferentially grooved rollers at said first rate of speed; continuously passing a continuous wire through each said groove in said rollers at a second predetermined rate of speed less than said first rate of speed, each of said wires being smaller in cross-section than its respective groove and sliding in its groove in facing relationship with the opposite sides of said film material, said first rate of speed being at least about 1% times said second rate of speed; cutting said film material in a direction generally transverse to its direction of travel into a plurality of artificial needles extending outwardly from the area of film material adjacent said wires as said film passes through said rollers; and

simultaneously pulling and twisting said wires downstream from said rollers, said pullling causing conveying said wires with said plastic film trapped therebetween at said second predetermined rate of speed, the first said rate of speed causing said artificial needles to increase in number per linear unit dimension of artificial tree limb length, whereby a quantity of artificial needles are provided compressed longitudinally.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein said wires comprise steel and said film material comprises plastic.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first rate of speed is from 1% to 2% times said second rate of speed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,680,303 8/1928 Schneider 16l-12 XR 2,112,723 3/1938 Wisoff 16l140 XR 2,248,572 7/1941 Kelman 931.5 2,568,495 9/1951 Goodwin 16l12 XR 2,639,532 5/1953 Seewald 161-12 XR 3,084,465 4/1963 Hellrich 16l22 3,215,047 11/1965 Braun 931.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 924,828 5/1963 Great Britain.

ROBERT F. BURNETT, Primary Examiner WILLIAM A. POWELL, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

